You'll be fine
by ndgirl319
Summary: Cuddy's sick. House cares. Friends/maybe more than friends...
1. Chapter 1

I own nothing.

She was sitting at her desk looking at documents when Dr. Greg House barged into her office. She looked up as he shut the door behind him and limped over to stand in the middle of her office.

"Yes Dr. House?" said Lisa Cuddy, Dean of Medicine at Princeton-Plainsboro Hospital. "What do you need?"

"Sex!" House proclaimed.

Cuddy's expression didn't change. She just waited for him to stop toying with her and tell her why he was there.

House rolled his eyes. " I need your signature to put my patient on the kidney transplant waiting list," he said as he made his way to her desk. After she signed them, he turned and headed back to the door. "Oh, by the way…how's the cancer?"

Cuddy's head whipped up to stare at House. "You talked to Wilson."

"Technically, he talked to me. Since I didn't know anything about the topic prior to his arrival, it was hard for me to contribute much to the conversation," House replied, voice heavy with sarcasm. He paused. "He's obviously not _your _oncologist or he would have been bound by doctor/patient confidentiality….which means you talked to him outside of work. Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, his voice much softer now.

"There was no need for you to know. I asked Wilson for advice, as a friend who happens to be an oncologist. I'm just going to have the surgery, get the treatment, and I'll be fine. There was no need to worry anyone else about it. Now, if you don't mind," she said as she got up from her desk, gathered her papers, and headed for the door, "I have a meeting with some donors in about 5 minutes."

House grabbed her arm as she walked by. "Lisa….," he said, his eyes showing a glimpse of the concern he was feeling.

But all he saw in her face as she turned to look at him was frustration and embarrassment. Dr. House looked at the floor, regained his composure, cleared his throat and again looked at her. "You know where I am if you need me." He mumbled as he released his grip on her arm and walked out of her office.


	2. Chapter 2

He opened the door to see Cuddy standing in the hallway. She looked like hell. Her hair was loosely pulled back into a ponytail, her coat was held closed tight by her crossed arms, and her skin was pale.

He opened the door wider to invite her in. As she walked by him, he felt the cold emanate from her. As he closed the door, he took her arm to stop her and held the back of his hand to her cheek. "You're freezing," he said quietly as he covered her cheeks and ears with the palms of his hands. He moved to open her coat and stand closer to her, hoping some of his body heat would transfer to her, and put his hands back to her face. Her breath was ragged and her teeth were chattering.

After several moments, House helped Cuddy take off her coat and helped her move to the couch. He took the blanket from the back of the couch and put it over her. "I'll make you some tea," he said quickly as he scurried into the kitchen. After he added some water to the teapot, and took out a mug and teabag, he crossed over to the thermostat and turned it up. He returned to the kitchen to make the tea, and returned to her on the couch.

"Here," he whispered, sitting next to her on the couch, facing her. "Hold onto the mug. It'll warm your hands."

She took the mug and held it. After several minutes she took a sip of the hot tea. It burned her lips and her tongue, but she didn't flinch. She took a breath, and let it out ever so slowly. She carefully looked over to House. He was staring into her tea, but met her eyes when she looked at him. She looked back at her tea.

"I'm sorry about your cancer." He said quietly.

Cuddy's mouth formed a small smile. She sighed and looked back at him, and he saw she was holding back tears. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away." She answered, her voice tight. "I thought I could handle it on my own. It's in the early stage. They'll take out the tumor and they'll give me radiation treatment. My prognosis is good." She again looked back at her tea.

"It's still cancer." House replied. "It's still a diagnosis that'll shake anyone. And even the strongest patients need to be able to talk about it."

Cuddy's tears spilled onto her cheeks. "I know," she whispered. "I didn't want pity. I didn't want anyone to think I was weak. I didn't want everyone to hope for the best and be disappointed if they found something worse when they went in for surgery." Cuddy face crumpled with her last statement.

House reached over and gently pulled her into his arms. "That won't happen," he told her. "They can see the cancer on their scans. If it looked clean, then they pretty much know ahead of time that they'll be able to get it all. The radiation is just precautionary. It'll be alright."

Cuddy nodded her head against House's chest. "It's late," House said quietly. "You should get some sleep." Cuddy sat up and House took in her exhausted form. "You can take my bed. I'll sleep on the couch."

She followed him to the bedroom where he pulled back the blankets for her. She sat down slowly. House turned to leave the room. "House…" she stopped him. He turned towards her again. When she didn't continue, he moved towards her and sat next to her on the bed.

"I don't want to be alone tonight. Sleep with me?" she asked, looking up at him slowly.

He looked in her eyes, wondering what exactly she wanted. He sighed lightly, and nodded. "Get into bed," he told her quietly. "I'll be in in a few minutes." He left the room. He turned off the TV, turned the thermostat back down a notch or two, put her mug into the sink, turned off lights, and made his way back to the bedroom where he found Cuddy nestled under his covers. He walked to the other side of the room and changed from his jeans into a pair of shorts in the dark, and crawled into the bed next to her. She was facing away from him so he couldn't tell if she was asleep or not. He didn't know whether to leave her alone or embrace her. He carefully put a hand on her shoulder, and she immediately turned towards him. They looked into each other's eyes for a few moments before she moved closer to him and settled into his arms.


End file.
